Writing my Year in Review post every year helps me to see what I’ve accomplished, think about what I’ve learnt, and decide what I’d like to do differently in the following year.

This is my 16th Year in Review blog post – one for every year of my full-time self-employment. Back then, I couldn’t have imagined what my life would look like today, but here I am, still loving the process of designing nature-inspired crochet patterns – and still in no danger of running out of ideas!

Although I only published 9 new patterns plus one re-release in 2024, almost all of them included multiple designs, so they represent a total of a respectable 21 new designs:

I’m adding a new section to these annual review posts: my top 10 best-selling patterns of the year! It’ll be interesting to see how the bestseller list changes from year to year…

2024’s Top 10 PlanetJune patterns:

1. Temperature Snake
2. Bearded Dragon
3. Polyhedral Balls & Gaming Dice
4. Tortoise & Simple-Shell Tortoise, Turtle & Terrapin
5. Baby Sea Turtle Applique & Hatchlings
6. Turtle Beach Blanket (Teal Ombre version)
7. Beaver
8. AmiCats Tuxedo
9. Emperor Penguin
10. Baby Sea Turtle Collection

Business Report

2024 has been filled with behind-the-scenes projects to improve PlanetJune and make it run more smoothly:

• Shop upgrade: I relaunched my shop with a complete upgrade and improvements to the photos.
• CAL automation: I automated the submission process for both the Team PlanetJune Ravellenic Games gallery and the Reindeer Games gallery, which removes my huge time commitment from running both of those CALs, making them much more sustainable (and fun for me!) going forward.
• Etsy app: I built a private app to semi-automate processing of my Etsy orders and customer service. (I keep my Etsy shop mainly for visibility, as many people only look for patterns there. I was spending more and more time answering messages, as Etsy prioritises their own messaging over the info customers actually need. My app helps me to send detailed customized messages to my Etsy customers in a timely fashion so they know what to expect, with a much reduced daily workload on my part.)

While each of those projects was a huge challenge that required weeks of my time (and far more than that for the new shop!), I’m already enjoying the results, and they should all continue to buy my time back for years to come.

And now I have a new business report to add here: my second business, the Turtle Beach Press publishing imprint! The first year of selling my masterpiece book, The Essential Guide to Amigurumi, has gone really well.

Even though I haven’t had the capacity to do any kind of marketing for it, word is spreading organically – thank you so much if you’re recommending it to new crocheters and amigurumi fans – and the reception has been fantastic! There are lots of amigurumi pattern books out there, but only EGA gives you all my tips and techniques to make the best amigurumi – from any pattern. And I’m especially happy that the left-handed edition is proving to be a treasure trove of dedicated help for new lefty crocheters. It’s so gratifying to see how much people are enjoying it! ❤️

Personal Report

2024 was a year of bucket list experiences right on my doorstep: an hour’s drive took us into the path of a spectacular total solar eclipse (and, more by luck than talent, I also managed to capture a beautiful photo!) and I finally saw my first (and second, and third…) aurora borealis. Amazing!

I made friends with a baby cow at a local cheese farm, and I finally achieved a long-term dream of having a pair of doves nest in my front porch. I’ll share the full story later, but my doves and their babies were a constant source of joy for me this year.

My health is an ongoing challenge: I’ve been dealing with chronic fatigue for many years now, and my energy is much more limited than my time. I also had my first run-in with COVID this summer, which has left me with some ongoing side-effects.

But we all have to play the hand we’re dealt, and I’m focusing on creating a simpler, happier life, and not beating myself up for the things I don’t have the energy to do. I’m learning that creative hobbies, enjoying nature and resting are all vital for giving me the capacity to do my best work while enjoying my life in the process.

In that spirit, I’ve been trying new things as well as enjoying my long-time favourite crafts and hobbies: crochet, gardening, baking, latch hooking, beading, dehydrating, machine knitting, candle making, yoga, diamond painting, birdwatching, reading, mushroom growing…

Top achievements for 2024 include growing 30kg (66lbs!) of vegetables (and fruits) in my garden, and making reading a priority – I surpassed my goal of reading 52 books in 2024, and feel so much better for making time to rest and read.

Looking Back

Going through this process is so valuable – I always feel like I haven’t accomplished much, but looking through all my photos and taking time to think about everything that has happened over the year puts that in perspective.

Last year, I wished for a simpler, more serene life: for making time for what really matters, and for leaving behind the things that don’t. And looking back through the year, I think I’ve mostly achieved that, and my first year of trying to respect my limits has gone pretty well.

There’s still a voice in the back of my head saying ‘Don’t waste time! Be more productive!’ but the most important parts of the PlanetJune magic – creativity and clear communication – are next-to impossible unless I have the energy to think clearly. I won’t compromise on my standards, and only I can do the work of bringing my ideas into the world, so the only option is patience for the process and accepting that everything I do will take a lot longer than I’d like.

Looking Forward

I feel like I’m on the right track with my goal of a simpler, more serene life. To bring my most creative self to my work, I need to prioritize looking after June the person first. Fewer hours of work and more time to refuel will not only help me manage my health but also make life more enjoyable.

I’ve realised that I’m much happier avoiding the noise of today’s social media (although I’ll always reply if you @ me!) Instead, I’m cultivating a quieter online community in the PJ Discord, that’s more like the old days of forums and early social media, where we can share thoughts and pics from our daily lives and build genuine connections and friendships. (You’re very welcome to join us there if that sounds good to you!)

I’m inching my way back into blogging, re-learning to share what interests me and trusting that there’s something there that you’ll also find interesting. I get deeply fascinated by the things I enjoy, whether that’s a new craft, the wonderful natural world all around us, learning how to grow delicious food, or developing new crochet designs and techniques. All those interests feed back into my crochet and give me the inspiration to create new work.

I’d also love to share some behind-the-scenes posts about the process of writing and independently publishing books, and compare that with traditional publishing. Going through the entire process has opened my eyes to what it takes to create beautiful, high-quality books, and I’d love to explore that with you.

Nerding out on what fascinates me in long blog posts doesn’t really mesh with the current fast, short-form, video-based trending content, and I think that’s okay! I don’t have the energy to create things that drain me, and writing slow, considered pieces is what I do best, so I’m going to lean into that.

In the end I’d much prefer to create a few richly detailed patterns, tutorials and blog posts in a year than hundreds of pieces of lightweight fluff. There’s a lot of noise and busy-ness out there – especially now with the rise of trashy AI-generated content, and constant ads – and not a lot that’s real. I don’t want to contribute to that noise; while I do need to earn a living, money isn’t my driving force. I’m looking for a simple, quiet, and valuable life, and that’s what I’m feeling my way into.

2025 Wishes

Re-reading what I’ve just written, I think the words that sum up my wishes for 2025 are calm, wholesome and honest. Wholesome isn’t a word I’ve related to in the past – my younger self would have equated it with being boring – but now I think it encompasses much of what I’m looking for: a healthy, positive and good-hearted life, both in my pastimes and outlook. I think the world could use more of that!

I wish the same for you too, no matter what your goals for the coming year may be, and I hope 2025 brings you health, happiness and fulfillment. Happy New Year!